PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB – INCLUDING ON EXTERNAL WEB PAGES ACCESSED THROUGH HYPERLINKS
AAP FACTCHECK – The New Year’s Day truck attack in the US city of New Orleans is being falsely claimed to be a false flag event by some social media users.
False flag events are political or military actions staged to push an agenda or to blame another party.
There is no credible evidence the attack, in which a US army veteran who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group rammed a truck into a crowd of revellers, was staged.
A Facebook post claims that the attack in Louisiana’s largest city was “the first false flag event of 2025” before listing bullet points about the incident.
It claims the exact same ute, or pickup truck, can be seen in footage of a Tesla Cybertruck exploding outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
“The same white truck is in a video of the cyber truck explosion at Trump Tower,” the post said.
The FBI found “no definitive link” between the two events, though officers noted it was still very early in the investigation.
A white ute can be seen in footage of the Vegas explosion published by The Associated Press (AP), but timelines and physical evidence show it is not the New Orleans vehicle.
The Ford F-150 Lightning involved in the New Orleans attack can be seen severely damaged at the scene in photos shared by Sky News.
The attack occurred at 3.15am Central Time (CT), The AP reported, whereas the Vegas explosion occurred at 8.40am local time (10.40am CT), according to NBC News.
About 7.5 hours elapsed between the events, which occurred more than 2700 kilometres apart and would take about 25 hours to drive, Google Maps indicated.
An AP photo of the wrecked ute on Bourbon St was taken at 6.03pm UTC (12.03pm CT) on January 1, the image’s metadata showed.
That was one hour and 20 minutes after the Vegas explosion.
The post also claimed an ISIS flag identified by the FBI at the scene was actually a “black jacket”.
However, a furled black flag with white writing beside the ute, consistent with ISIS imagery, can be seen in another AP photo.
Another Facebook post claimed the attack was fake and had been shot on a film set.
“The New Orleans Shooting False Flag Event movie set,” it said.
“With false flag paid crisis actors, dummies, movie lighting, fake gun shots, generators and boom lifts for lighting.”
The post featured several images of bright lights at the scene with overlay text claiming they were “set lighting”.
However, CNN shared graphic footage (timestamp 21 seconds) where they appear to be portable generator-powered floodlights.
The same lights can be seen in Bourbon St videos posted on Instagram, and YouTube in 2023 (timestamp 13 minutes and 12 seconds) and on December 30, 2024 (timestamp 8:21), about a day before the attack.
Floodlights can be seen on Bourbon St in 2022 on Google Street View.
New Orleans has had recurring issues with its ageing street lighting system, including hundreds of annual outages, according to local outlets Fox 8 and The Times-Picayune (The TP).
Floodlights have also been used during past events on Bourbon St, The TP reported.
The post also shared a video of what it claimed were “fake national guards” at the scene.
However, the armed men appear to be wearing the green uniforms of the SWAT unit seen in Louisiana State Police Facebook posts.
The police SWAT unit has been deployed on Bourbon St in the past, X posts confirmed.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All information, text and images included on the AAP Websites is for personal use only and may not be re-written, copied, re-sold or re-distributed, framed, linked, shared onto social media or otherwise used whether for compensation of any kind or not, unless you have the prior written permission of AAP. For more information, please refer to our standard terms and conditions.
